BOSTON -- Six days before Christmas, the Boston Red Sox are understandably preoccupied by their protracted search for a middle-of-the-order slugger. But neither J.D. Martinez nor especially the return of Mitch Moreland is going to singlehandedly bridge the club's 93-run drop-off in production from 2016 to 2017.
That's where Tim Hyers comes in.
Hired last month to be the hitting coach under rookie manager Alex Cora, Hyers is rejoining the Red Sox after two years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. During his first Sox go-around, he spent three seasons as a minor-league coordinator at a time when Jackie Bradley Jr.